Kentucky's "refuse to lose" mentality against MSU saved its season (for now)

Kentucky men’s basketball’s new motto? Refuse to lose. Three simple enough words, but when given a purpose and put into action, they built the backbone for the Wildcats’ must-have win over Mississippi State on Wednesday night.

“We just refused to lose today,” Senior forward Jacob Toppin said after the 71-68 victory.

The Kentucky players did refuse to lose to MSU, but they certainly didn’t make it easy on themselves. However, they ultimately locked up a major resume-building win despite facing a tough road environment.

Coming into Starkville, the ‘Cats were one more poor performance away from being too far out of the projected NCAA Tournament field to make a run back into the mix. Head coach John Calipari has preached this “refuse to lose” mantra since UK fell in demoralizing fashion to Georgia over the weekend. The saying actually dates back to his days as the head coach at UMass (when he trademarked the phrase), but it wasn’t something he felt necessary to bring back until the last few days. Kentucky needed something — anything — to give them an edge with just six games left on the schedule and momentum trending in the wrong direction.

Calipari’s tactic worked, even if it was a nerve-racking finish.

“Well, the biggest thing I’ve been talking to them about is refuse to lose. Just refuse to lose. And you may run out of time. But refuse to lose. You just keep fighting,” Calipari said after beating Mississippi State. “No excuses at this time. How many games we have left? Five games. That’s what we got. We got five to go. Who’s ready to play? Who’s ready to fight? Refuse to lose. Do what you got to do for the team.”

Kentucky did just that in the win over the Bulldogs. The ‘Cats, down two key rotational guards, fought tooth and nail down the stretch. UK had established a double-digit lead midway through the second half before nearly letting it all crumble in the closing minutes. But again, that refuse-to-lose mentality broke through, and it happened amongst the players — they fully bought into the idea of leaving everything on the floor.

“The second half, down the stretch, like seven minutes left that’s all we was talking about, saying that to each other. Refusing to lose,” Freshman forward Chris Livingston said. “When it hit four minutes we said to each other it’s winning time. It’s that time of the season.

“It’s just the mindset, like I didn’t want to lose. I was just making winning plays. Whether that was scoring or just rebounding, I just didn’t want to lose, that was the mindset I had.”

That mindset just might have saved Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament hopes.

But one game is still just one game. Although Kentucky received plenty of help with its resume from the rest of the SEC on Wednesday night, the ‘Cats still need to continue stacking wins. Four of UK’s final five regular-season games are now against Quad 1 opponents. The beginning of a potential season turnaround began in Starkville, even when it looked like Kentucky could have easily folded under the pressure of the situation. Now it’s time to keep the rhythm rolling.

“That’s one thing about this team, we’re never gonna back down,” Toppin said. “We’re in a hole right now and we’re gonna dig out of it. Best believe we’re gonna dig out of it… We’re gonna figure this out, we’re gonna turn this around, and it started today. We got a good dub.”